Ancient Rome
The history of Ancient Rome spans roughly 2230 years, beginning with the creation of the Kingdom of Rome in 753 BC and ending with the fall of the Epirus Despotate in 1479. It began as an Italic settlement around a city its inhabitants would go on to dub "Rome", lending the states their names. The Roman Empire grew to be one of the largest nations of history, and its culture, history, politics and philosophy have a massive impact on the world today. History (Summarized) Beginnings (753 — 387 BC) The Roman Kingdom was established on 21 April 753 BC, by its semi-mythical founder Romulus. Several kings followed Romulus, often from neighbouring states such as the Sabine state (in union with the city) and the Etruscan civilization. The latter produced an authoritarian leader known as Tarquinus Superbus, who was overthrown in 509 BC. Following this, the Romans established the Roman Republic, headed by the Senate, the Two Consuls and to a lesser extent, the Pontifex Max. Rise to prominence (387 BC — AD 180) After seizing Italy over the course of several hundreds of years, the Republic started expanding into France, the Iberian Peninsula, Africa and Greece, where it absorbed the last remaining poleis by 146 BC. By 50 BC, the Romans completed their conquest of Gaul. Julius Caeser rose to power, but was assassinated by the Senate in 44 BC, who feared that Caeser would follow a similar path like Superbus. Following Ceaser's murder, a triuumvirate (the second of its kind) was established with Octavius, Marcus Antononius and Marcus Lepidus. The former two engaged in a civil war over control of Rome, which was won by Octavius in 30 BC after taking Ancient Egypt (ending its sovereignty after 3,000+ years). In 27 BC, Octavius became Augustus, Roman Emperor, creating the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire attained its highest peak under Trajanus in AD 117, a period marked by exceptional peace and stability. Christianity also rose significantly and became the state religion by AD 300 (Roman polytheism remained prominent until AD 700-800 however). Decline and diarchy (180 — 395) However, the empire eventually became too large to control. On 17 January 395, the Empire, which by then was slowly declining, was split into a dual state, consisting of the Western Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire (or Eastern Roman Empire). While Byzantium started flourishing after this division, the Western Empire continued sinking further and further into chaos and lost more territory every year. By 453, the Western Empire was left with only Italy itself, and an exclave in present-day France, amongst very small chunks elsewhere. The Germanic migrations became too severe for Rome to handle, and in the 470's, Rome fell into a political crisis. After Emperor Nepos was forced to abdicate and go into exile, the Senators placed a child called Romulus Augustulus on the throne. While allegedly the Roman Emperor, Augustulus was not considered as such and had no actual power. The final remaining Senators tried to administer what was left of Rome, with Augustulus as a figurehead. Fall of the Western Roman Empire (395 — 487) In September of 476, the final remaining Roman stronghold, Ravenna, was overrun by Germanic tribes under the leadership of Odoacer. Romulus Augustulus was deposed and Odoacer proclaimed himself King of Italy. The Byzantine Empire immediately intervened and commanded Odoacer to make his Kingdom a client state of the Byzantine Empire, to which he obliged. The Western Roman Empire, unlike what is generally assumed, didn't truly "end" after this. Nepos was still alive and ruled a remaining portion of the Empire in Dalmatia (modern-day Croatia) until 480, when he was assassinated. Odoacer seized the territory, but executed the murderers as tribute to Nepos. Additionally, Roman general Syagrius ruled the Kingdom of the Romans (More commonly known as the Domain of Soissons) in France until 487, when it was incorporated by the Franks. Syagrus died between 487 and 494. Lastly, in modern-day Algeria, the Mauro-Roman Kingdom was established in 477. Said kingdom preserved the Roman culture, society and the Latin language, becoming a successor state with a vassal agreement with Byzantium. The Byzantines intervene (476 — 578); "recreation" of the Western Roman Empire Following hostilities between Odoacer and Byzantium, Eastern Roman Emperor Zeno ordered his death and re-vassalisation of Italy. Theodoric the Great, a Goth, agreed to the mission in 488 and killed Odoacer through a trap on 15 March 493, seizing his land. Byzantium authorized Theodoric to establish his own state in Italy on the condition that it be a client state of Byzantium. Theodoric agreed. The language, culture and society of the new Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy were the same as that of the Western Roman Empire, effectively restoring it. However, the death of Theodoric in 526 led to a succession crisis that further caused internal strife, loss of territory and souring of relations with other states and the Empire. The queen of Italy, Amalasuntha, was executed in 535. At this point, Eastern Roman Emperor Justinianus had enough and, blaming inability of his vassals to efficiently manage Italy, decided to finally reimpose direct rule over the West Roman Empire. The Roman Empire fully restored (535 — 1071) By 554, Justinianus had completed the conquest of Italy, where despite depopulation and destruction, the Romans and their society, culture and institutions still remained. Around the same time, Justinian re-incorporated large chunks of Spain, France and the Balkan into the Byzantine Empire. Finally, following a failed rebellion by the Mauro-Roman Kingdom in the 560s, said nation was re-incorporated into the Empire by 578. At long last, the Roman Empire was reunited and had been largely recreated. Despite a Lombard invasion in 568 that forced Byzantium to share portions of Italy with their nation, the Byzantines retained control over their Western territories. It was not until April 1071 that the Romans lost Italy forever — they would never regain the peninsula. 1071 is when the Western Roman Empire truly disappeared. The Byzantine Empire however, rejected the existence of two Roman empires, and took the name "Roman Empire" as if it was still unified, or as if it had never split in the first place. The Fourth Crusade, Byzantium breaks up (1204 — 1261) Perhaps the worst disaster ever endured by the Roman Empire was the Fourth Crusade. The goal of said Crusade was to liberate Jerusalem from the Muslims. However, due to miscommunication, political and financial dysfunctions and a failed coup d'etat plot by Alexios Angelos, the Crusaders flocked out of control and instead attacked the Roman Empire, even though they were an ally in the "fight against Islam". In 1204, the Crusaders sacked Constantinople, damaging the Empire so hard it split into the Empire of Trebizond, the Epirus Despotate and the Empire of Nicaea. The Crusaders established their own state on Byzantine territory, the Latin Empire, which became a client state of the County of Flanders; it took the rump states until 1261 to reconquer their territory and recreate the Byzantine Empire. The damage caused by the Crusaders was so great that the Roman Empire would never recover, paving the way for its permanent dissolution in the 15th century. The Christians had effectively destroyed their own biggest defense. Reunification and mass decline (1261 — 1448) After the recreation of the Byzantine Empire, the nation entered a downward spiral of decline and chaos, only worsened by the advancing Ottomans. The emperors tried enlisting mercenaries in a last attempt to restore the nation to glory, but they turned up unreliable and created general resentment towards Constantinople. Massive construction projects across the Empire failed to reach their goals or return stability. Hate for Constantinople increased when Emperor Michael VIII forced the Church to submit to the Empire. The peasantry started losing its faith in the Empire's governance, and during all this, the Ottomans continued advancing into Byzantium. The End (1448 — 1479) The final true Emperor of Rome, Constantine XII, prepared for a final defence at Constantinople in 1453. At the time, all the rest of Turkey had been taken by the Ottomans. Initially, it seemed as though Constantinople's defences were impossible to overcome for the Ottomans. But one dumb mistake cost the Empire its existence: A back gate had been left open. The Ottomans discovered this and overran Constantinople until 29 May 1453, killing the remaining Byzantine executives on that day. This date is generally considered to be the end of the Byzantine Empire, but this is not actually true: Three rump states that were part of the extended Byzantine Empire were still around. These were Trebizond, the Principality of Theodoro-Mangup and the Epirus Despotate. Trebizond fell on August 15, 1461, when the Ottomans took its last holding in Ukraine. Also in Ukraine, Theodoro-Mangup fell to the Ottomans in 1475. By now, the Epirus Despotate, in western Greece and southern Albania, was the final part of the Roman Empire that was left. Its capture in 1479 finally ended the Roman Empire once and for all, after more than 2000 years. Category:Former countries Category:Former monarchies Category:Former republics